| 1. |
- Davies, G., et al.
(författare)
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Study of 300,486 individuals identifies 148 independent genetic loci influencing general cognitive function
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2041-1723. ; 9:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- General cognitive function is a prominent and relatively stable human trait that is associated with many important life outcomes. We combine cognitive and genetic data from the CHARGE and COGENT consortia, and UK Biobank (total N = 300,486; age 16-102) and find 148 genome-wide significant independent loci (P < 5 × 10-8) associated with general cognitive function. Within the novel genetic loci are variants associated with neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, physical and psychiatric illnesses, and brain structure. Gene-based analyses find 709 genes associated with general cognitive function. Expression levels across the cortex are associated with general cognitive function. Using polygenic scores, up to 4.3% of variance in general cognitive function is predicted in independent samples. We detect significant genetic overlap between general cognitive function, reaction time, and many health variables including eyesight, hypertension, and longevity. In conclusion we identify novel genetic loci and pathways contributing to the heritability of general cognitive function.
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| 2. |
- Komatsu, Kimberly J., et al.
(författare)
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Global change effects on plant communities are magnified by time and the number of global change factors imposed
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 116:36, s. 17867-17873
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Accurate prediction of community responses to global change drivers (GCDs) is critical given the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem services. There is consensus that human activities are driving species extinctions at the global scale, but debate remains over whether GCDs are systematically altering local communities worldwide. Across 105 experiments that included over 400 experimental manipulations, we found evidence for a lagged response of herbaceous plant communities to GCDs caused by shifts in the identities and relative abundances of species, often without a corresponding difference in species richness. These results provide evidence that community responses are pervasive across a wide variety of GCDs on long-term temporal scales and that these responses increase in strength when multiple GCDs are simultaneously imposed.Global change drivers (GCDs) are expected to alter community structure and consequently, the services that ecosystems provide. Yet, few experimental investigations have examined effects of GCDs on plant community structure across multiple ecosystem types, and those that do exist present conflicting patterns. In an unprecedented global synthesis of over 100 experiments that manipulated factors linked to GCDs, we show that herbaceous plant community responses depend on experimental manipulation length and number of factors manipulated. We found that plant communities are fairly resistant to experimentally manipulated GCDs in the short term (<10 y). In contrast, long-term (≥10 y) experiments show increasing community divergence of treatments from control conditions. Surprisingly, these community responses occurred with similar frequency across the GCD types manipulated in our database. However, community responses were more common when 3 or more GCDs were simultaneously manipulated, suggesting the emergence of additive or synergistic effects of multiple drivers, particularly over long time periods. In half of the cases, GCD manipulations caused a difference in community composition without a corresponding species richness difference, indicating that species reordering or replacement is an important mechanism of community responses to GCDs and should be given greater consideration when examining consequences of GCDs for the biodiversity–ecosystem function relationship. Human activities are currently driving unparalleled global changes worldwide. Our analyses provide the most comprehensive evidence to date that these human activities may have widespread impacts on plant community composition globally, which will increase in frequency over time and be greater in areas where communities face multiple GCDs simultaneously.
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| 6. |
- Karlsson, Hyunjoo Kim
(författare)
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Dynamics of macroeconomic and financial variables in different time horizons
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation consists of an introductory chapter and four papers dealing with financial issues of open economies, which can be in two broad categorizations: 1) exchange rate movements and 2) stock market interdependence. The first paper covers how the exchange rate changes affect the prices of internationally traded goods. With the variables (the price of exports in exporters’ currency and the exchange rate, both of which are in logarithmic form) being cointegrated, a model with both long- and short-run characteristics (the Error Correction Model, ECM) is formulated.The second paper relates to the standard macroeconomic models of exchange rate determination. This paper investigates the relationship between the exchange rate and the domestic-foreign interest rate differential.A relevant issue associated with the relationship between export prices and exchange rates for different industries is found in the third paper. The responsiveness of firms’ profitability to changes in exchange rates (i.e. exchange rate exposure) is tested using a factor model.After the three papers noted above, the dissertation moves on to the final paper which explores the relationship between national stock markets (i.e. interdependence). The causal linkages of the U.S. stock market to each of six eastern Asian national stock markets (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) as well as the causal linkages among those Asian equity markets are tested in a vector autoregression (VAR) model using wavelet-decomposed data.
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| 7. |
- Lin, Chung-Yin, et al.
(författare)
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A cluster randomized controlled trial of a theory-based sleep hygiene intervention for adolescents
- 2018
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Ingår i: Sleep. - : Oxford University Press. - 0161-8105 .- 1550-9109. ; 41:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Study Objectives: To use theory to design and evaluate an intervention to promote sleep hygiene and health among adolescents.Methods: The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) were used to develop an intervention, which was then evaluated in a cluster randomized trial. Participants were high school students (N = 2,841, M age = 15.12, SD = 1.50). Adolescents in the intervention group received four face-to-face sessions providing behavior change techniques targeting the theoretical determinants of sleep hygiene. Adolescents in the control group only received educational material at the end of the study. The primary outcome was sleep hygiene measured at 1 and 6 months postintervention. A number of secondary outcomes were also measured, including beliefs about sleep, self-regulatory processes, and outcomes related to health and wellbeing.Results: Sleep hygiene was improved in the intervention group when compared with the control group at both follow-up points (coefficients = 0.16 and 0.19, 95% CIs = 0.12-0.20 and 0.15-0.23 at 1 and 6 months, respectively, for scores on the Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale), as were psychosocial and general aspects of health. Mediation analyses suggested that beliefs about sleep hygiene as specified by the TPB, along with self-regulatory processes from HAPA, both mediated the effect of the intervention on outcomes. In turn, the effects of the intervention on sleep hygiene mediated its impact on general health.Conclusions: Healthcare practitioners might consider intervention programs based on the TPB and the HAPA to improve sleep among adolescents.Clinical Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02551913) https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02551913.
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| 8. |
- Molassiotis, A., et al.
(författare)
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Complementary and alternative medicine use in patients with head and neck cancers in Europe
- 2006
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Ingår i: European Journal of Cancer Care. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0961-5423 .- 1365-2354. ; 15:1, s. 19-24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the present study was to examine the patterns of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in a sample of head and neck cancer patients, forming part of a larger study. A cross-sectional survey design was used collecting data through a descriptive 27-item questionnaire in nine countries in Europe. The participants were 75 patients with head and neck cancers. The prevalence rate of CAM use was 22.7%. The most common therapies used were herbal medicine (47%), medicinal teas (23.5%), use of vitamins/minerals (11.8%) and visualization (11.8%). Use of CAM dramatically increased after the diagnosis with cancer (i.e. eightfold increase in the use of herbs). A profile of CAM users was not evident in this sample. Patients used CAM for a variety of reasons together, with counteracting the ill effects from cancer and its treatment being the most common one. Information about CAM was obtained mostly from friends and family. As one in five head and neck cancer patients use CAM it is important that clinicians explore practices with their patients, improve communication about CAM with them and assist those who want to use CAM in using appropriate and safe therapies.
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| 9. |
- Molassiotis, A., et al.
(författare)
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Use of complementary and alternative medicine in cancer patients : a European survey
- 2005
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Ingår i: Annals of Oncology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0923-7534 .- 1569-8041. ; 16:4, s. 655-663
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The aim of this study was to explore the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in cancer patients across a number of European countries.Methods: A descriptive survey design was developed. Fourteen countries participated in the study and data was collected through a descriptive questionnaire from 956 patients.Results: Data suggest that CAM is popular among cancer patients with 35.9% using some form of CAM (range among countries 14.8% to 73.1%). A heterogeneous group of 58 therapies were identified as being used. Herbal medicines and remedies were the most commonly used CAM therapies, together with homeopathy, vitamins/minerals, medicinal teas, spiritual therapies and relaxation techniques. Herbal medicine use tripled from use before diagnosis to use since diagnosis with cancer. Multivariate analysis suggested that the profile of the CAM user was that of younger people, female and with higher educational level. The source of information was mainly from friends/family and the media, while physicians and nurses played a small part in providing CAM-related information. The majority used CAM to increase the body's ability to fight cancer or improve physical and emotional well-being, and many seemed to have benefited from using CAM (even though the benefits were not necessarily related to the initial reason for using CAM). Some 4.4% of patients, however, reported side-effects, mostly transient.Conclusions: It is imperative that health professionals explore the use of CAM with their cancer patients, educate them about potentially beneficial therapies in light of the limited available evidence of effectiveness, and work towards an integrated model of health-care provision.
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| 10. |
- Shrestha, Sarita, 1991-, et al.
(författare)
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The use of ICD codes to identify IBD subtypes and phenotypes of the Montreal classification in the Swedish National Patient Register
- 2020
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0036-5521 .- 1502-7708. ; 55:4, s. 430-435
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Whether data on International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-codes from the Swedish National Patient Register (NPR) correctly correspond to subtypes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and phenotypes of the Montreal classification scheme among patients with prevalent disease is unknown. Materials and methods: We obtained information on IBD subtypes and phenotypes from the medical records of 1403 patients with known IBD who underwent biological treatment at ten Swedish hospitals and retrieved information on their IBD-associated diagnostic codes from the NPR. We used previously described algorithms to define IBD subtypes and phenotypes. Finally, we compared these register-generated subtypes and phenotypes with the corresponding information from the medical records and calculated positive predictive values (PPV) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: Among patients with clinically confirmed disease and diagnostic listings of IBD in the NPR (N = 1401), the PPV was 97 (96-99)% for Crohn's disease, 98 (97-100)% for ulcerative colitis, and 8 (4-11)% for IBD-unclassified. The overall accuracy for age at diagnosis was 95% (when defined as A1, A2, or A3). Examining the validity of codes representing disease phenotype, the PPV was 36 (32-40)% for colonic Crohn's disease (L2), 61 (56-65)% for non-stricturing/non-penetrating Crohn's disease behaviour (B1) and 83 (78-87)% for perianal disease. Correspondingly, the PPV was 80 (71-89)% for proctitis (E1)/left-sided colitis (E2) in ulcerative colitis. Conclusions: Among people with known IBD, the NPR is a reliable source of data to classify most subtypes of prevalent IBD, even though misclassification commonly occurred in Crohn's disease location and behaviour and also among IBD-unclassified patients.
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